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Matt Leinart slams Dean Cain after Johnny Manziel comparison

Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart, left, didn't like actor Dean Cain using him as a cautionary tale for Browns rookie Johnny Manziel.
(Jason Merritt, Rick Polk / Getty Images; Marc Duncan / Associated Press)
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Matt Leinart’s NFL career didn’t go as well as many had hoped, there’s really no denying that. But that doesn’t mean Leinart needs the likes of Dean Cain bringing that up when talking to TMZ about Johnny Manziel.

OK, I realize there’s a lot to wrap your head around in that first paragraph, so take as much time as you need.

Good? All right then, let’s get to it. But just know going in that I have no idea why TMZ was talking to Cain about the Cleveland Browns’ hard-partying rookie quarterback -- or talking to the star of the 1990s TV show “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” at all.

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Sure, the 47-year-old Cain played defensive back at Princeton and even signed with the Buffalo Bills but never got to play because of a career-ending knee injury. And I guess there really wasn’t much else to chat with him about other than asking when his latest holiday movie involving dogs is coming out (just look on IMDB -- glad to see that he’s found a niche now that his days as the Man of Steel are over).

Anyhow, this is what Cain had to say when asked this week about Johnny Football: “Listen, good for him. He’s a great player, he won the Heisman as a freshman. He’s an unbelievable guy. In the NFL, it’s a whole new world. I hope he does well. He’s got the physical gifts, but he’s not your typical NFL quarterback. I mean, he’s an athlete, but there are a lot of athletes in the NFL. So I don’t know. I don’t know how he’s going to do.”

Solid analysis. Cain could have stopped there, but instead he decided to keep going and bring up Leinart, who spent six seasons in the NFL but never lived up to the hype as a Heisman Trophy winner out of USC.

“I do remember another quarterback back in the day coming out being a high draft choice, hanging out with the Hollywood starlets and stars and never really doing that well,” Cain said. “I didn’t say any names that came out of USC wearing No. 11 named Matt Leinart, but it can happen.”

The TMZ reporter reminded Cain that Leinart is still doing just fine, at least in the romance department. Cain -- who is said to have dated Brooke Shields in real life and whose character actually caused Brenda to dump Dylan on “Beverly Hills, 90210” -- wasn’t impressed.

“I’m not saying Matt Leinart can’t get ladies,” Cain said, “but he can’t get a contract in the NFL now.”

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Leinart wasn’t amused. He tweeted on Wednesday: “Put 7 years in, pretty sure that’s 7 more than 99% of the world. Some people should stick to their day job because they couldn’t cut it!”

Then he added, “Stick to being D list!”

Somewhere out there, Manziel is wondering who Dean Cain and Matt Leinart are.

Follow @chewkiii on Twitter

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